1. Preserving a Quality Educational Experience
The prestige and quality of a Berkeley Law education should never be in jeopardy, even in a harsh financial crisis. Solidarity aims to curtail threats to the quality by:
- Fighting for the prioritization of state and federal funds for Berkeley Law and UCB.
- Supporting UC, CSU, and CC advocacy events and campaigns for funding statewide.
- Demanding transparency in the decision-making by Berkeley Law administrators to ensure that all students receive a quality education.
- Ensuring that diversity and student support initiatives are not sacrificed in the name of budget cuts.
- Ensuring that valuable clinical opportunities, lecture series, and research center programming remains adequately funded and continues to promote student engagement and research.
2. Berkeley Law Should Be Affordable and Accessible to All People
Students should be protected from unforeseen tuition hikes. Annual tuition hikes, such as those proposed by the UC Regents & Berkeley Law administrators, hurt all students and are disproportionately burdensome to low-income students, middle-class students, and undocumented students. Solidarity candidates will fight against fee hikes and their effects by:
- Fighting against future tuition and Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition increases
- Fighting for better economic protections in terms of need-based grants and financial aid programs to support the students most affected by the fee increases.
- Undertake an analytical evaluation of the saliency of LRAP for current and future students.
- Protecting graduate student teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and summer fellowship funding.
3. Recruiting and Retaining Graduate Students and Faculty of Color
As California's demographics continue to shift dramatically, the future economy will depend heavily on the state's ability to educate and incorporate a younger generation of lawyers of color. As a public university, Berkeley Law is mandated to educate and provide research opportunities for these growing ethnic communities. Solidarity will represent law student voices and expand diversity initiatives by:
As California's demographics continue to shift dramatically, the future economy will depend heavily on the state's ability to educate and incorporate a younger generation of lawyers of color. As a public university, Berkeley Law is mandated to educate and provide research opportunities for these growing ethnic communities. Solidarity will represent law student voices and expand diversity initiatives by:
- Fighting to maintain all outreach programs and support services for students of color (current and future) through a strong collaboration with the Graduate Assembly, Berkeley Law administrators and student organizations.
- Ensuring that diversity initiatives do not get cut out by administrators and departments due to fiscal constraints.
- Supporting the hiring of faculty of color through grad/professional committee appointments to academic councils, Dean committees, and other institutional entities.
- Mandating that Berkeley Law continues to promote respect, tolerance, and collegiality
4. Strengthening Ties with the Graduate Assembly
As a result of budget cuts, Berkeley Law student organizations have seen major decreases in Graduate Assembly funding. As one of the largest professional schools on campus, Solidarity candidates will work to:
As a result of budget cuts, Berkeley Law student organizations have seen major decreases in Graduate Assembly funding. As one of the largest professional schools on campus, Solidarity candidates will work to:
- Ensuring GA funding is proportional to Berkeley Law demographics.
- Assisting student organizations in their grant and proposal requests to ensure successful funding applications.
- Working collaboratively with GA officers and staff to present a holistic picture of the budget cuts and diversity issues to Graduate Division, the UC Regents, and other administrative entities.
5. Strengthening Ties with the Berkeley Law Community
Berkeley Law is home to a diverse array of student-initiated organizations and amazing clinical opportunities. As the formal governing body of Berkeley Law, BHSA is vital to the cohesiveness of the law school community. As such, Solidarity candidates will work to:
Berkeley Law is home to a diverse array of student-initiated organizations and amazing clinical opportunities. As the formal governing body of Berkeley Law, BHSA is vital to the cohesiveness of the law school community. As such, Solidarity candidates will work to:
- Increasing the communication between BHSA and the law school community.
- Supporting student organizations' funding and programming proposals.
- Creating a cohesive student calendar so that student organizers work collaboratively to ensure that timely and necessary events are scheduled in tandem with one another.
- Introducing a new advocacy wing to BHSA so that law students can be more organized on major issues affecting Berkeley Law such as: fee increases, changes to financial aid, issues with Career Development Office policies, and much more.
- Continuing to be true representatives to the Berkeley Law community by increasing student engagement, budgetary and leadership transparency, and increasing cross-organization collaboration.
